St. Vincent de Paul Society
The St. Vincent de Paul Society at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral sponsors various projects and events to assist and support our neighbors in need. Your generosity is always appreciated.
Betty's Back to School Project
This program provides a new backpack and a $15 shoe voucher for children at Our Lady of Grace Food Pantry. We buy during winter sales in order to save money. Backpacks are given out at the August Food Pantry.
Clothing Bin
The St. Vincent de Paul Society in our diocese is embarking on a new project to better serve the poor. This project will involve the bulk collection of clean, gently-used clothing and shoes. You can assist the society in this endeavor by placing your clothing and shoes in the St. Vincent de Paul blue clothing bins located in the parking lot of St. Emma Monastery or the Knights of Columbus building on North Main Street in Greensburg.
Also, we are looking for more locations to place our bins. If you have a business and would like to help in this project, please contact Richard Trinclisti, director of operations, at 724-244-0977.
Coat and Accessory Drive
Do you have a new coat that you just never used or a nearly new coat that you outgrew? Your extra winter coat could be the only coat for some of our neighbors in need. All coats must be new or nearly new, clean, and on hangers. We also collect hats, mittens, gloves and scarves in all sizes for men, women and children. If you would like to collect accessories at work or with your club or group, please contact Maxine Pellis at 724-836-4056.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society Greensburg District has distributed over 1,500 coats since November 2010 — all here in our community. The need is great and we are still distributing coats as people come forward. There is always a shortage of men’s items, teenage coats and children’s coats. The coats are stored at St. Paul Parish, Greensburg.
Home Visits/Client Assistance
Home visits/client assistance is the help we provide to individuals each month. We help with basic needs such as utilities, food, clothing and durable medical equipment. The needs vary based on each circumstance.
Magi Ministry
For over 10 years, our parish, along with other churches and business partners, provide gifts and food for Christmas to our neighbors in need. With the help of our faithful parishioners, we have been able to meet some of the needs of our neighbors who are less fortunate.
Operation Fresh Express
The St. Vincent de Paul Society sponsors a food distribution called Operation Fresh Express each month. This outdoor distribution is in conjunction with the Westmoreland County Food Bank. The St. Vincent de Paul Society conferences from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Our Lady of Grace and St. Paul parishes sponsor this event.
In 2010 fresh dairy, produce and household items were provided to 2,404 Greensburg families that might not otherwise have enough to eat. The households included 1,370 children, 2,865 adults, 578 senior citizens and 19 individuals of unknown age for a total of 4,832 people served.
We also provided 167,464 pounds of food that would have cost approximately $277,218. In 2010, we paid $4,200 to sponsor this event which is an amazing value for our dollars that you have so generously donated to the parish social ministry.
Paper Product Drive
The last weekend of each month the St. Vincent de Paul Society collects paper products for the poor in our community. Paper products cannot be purchased with food stamps. Many of the people we serve have few dollars beyond their food stamps each month. Therefore, what we give them really helps.
We have an average of 300 families per month at the St. Vincent de Paul Society Food Pantry located at Our Lady of Grace Parish, Greensburg. Based on parish donations alone this allows each family two items a month (two rolls of toilet paper or two packages of paper towel).
Parishioner donations have been low; therefore, the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral conference supplements this by purchasing $275 worth of toilet paper each month. This money comes from the $1,000 each month that we receive from the parish social ministry donations. This leaves us $725 per month to do other things to help our neighbors in need.
In a month when donations are high, we can give each family four rolls of toilet paper and one other paper item such as paper towel, Kleenex or napkins. Still not much for a family, but it really helps when your income is low.
We appreciate all the paper products that you are able to give the last weekend of each month.
Thank you for your continual support of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and our Greensburg neighbors in need.